Amplifier

ABSTRACT

There is provided an amplifier for combining outputs of a plurality of amplifying circuits to generate an amplifier output. The amplifier includes a first amplifying circuit for operating a first amplifying device in class-AB, wherein the first amplifying circuit is one among the plurality of the amplifying circuits; a second amplifying circuit for operating a second amplifying device in class-B or class-C, wherein the second amplifying circuit is one among the plurality of the amplifying circuits; and a summing node at which an output of the first amplifying circuit is combined with an output of the second amplifying circuit via a first impedance transformer containing a transmission line of an electrical length other than λ/4. The second amplifying device is connected to the summing node via an output matching circuit and a second impedance transformer containing a transmission line.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an amplifier; and, more particularly,to a modified Doherty amplifier capable of enhancing the performancethereof especially when an amplifying device or the like whose impedancematching is difficult in a conventional Doherty amplifier is employed,or capable of enhancing the power efficiency thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventionally, when a power-amplifying radio frequency signal such as aCDMA signal or a multi-carrier signal is amplified, a distortioncompensation unit is added to a common amplifier, so that an operatingrange of the common amplifier can be expanded to include a saturationregion to achieve a low power consumption. Although there are distortioncompensation methods such as a feed-forward distortion compensation or apredistortion compensation, such methods have limitations to achieve thelow power consumption. Therefore, Doherty amplifiers are recentlyattracting attentions as a candidate for a high efficiency amplifier.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a conventional Dohertyamplifier. A signal inputted to an input terminal 1 is divided by adivider 2. One of the divided signals is inputted to a carrieramplifying circuit 4. The carrier amplifying circuit 4 includes an inputmatching circuit 41 for implementing impedance matching to an input sideof an amplifying device 42; the amplifying device 42, which contains,e.g., one or more transistors; and an output matching circuit 43 forimplementing impedance matching to an output side of the amplifyingdevice 42. A λ/4 transformer 61 is connected to an output terminal ofthe carrier amplifier 4 to transform an output impedance thereof.

The other divided signal is inputted to a peak amplifying circuit 5after its phase is delayed by 90° by a phase converter 3. Similarly tothe carrier amplifying circuit 4, the peak amplifying circuit 5 includesan input matching circuit 51; an amplifying device 52 containing, e.g.,one or more transistors; and an output matching circuit 53.

An output signal of the λ/4 transformer 61 is combined with that of thepeak amplifying circuit 5 at a summing node 62. The combined signal istransformed by a λ/4 transformer 7 such that an output impedance of theamplifier is matched to an output load 9, i.e., Z₀. The combination ofthe λ/4 transformer 61 and the summing node 62 is referred to as aDoherty combiner 6. An output of the λ/4 transformer 7 is applied via anamplifier output terminal 8 to the output load 9.

The carrier amplifying circuit 4 and the peak amplifying circuit 5differ in that the amplifying device 42 is biased in class-AB whereasthe amplifying device 52 is biased in class-B or class-C. Therefore, theamplifying device 42 operates alone until an input level of theamplifier reaches a region where it begins to be saturated and theamplifying device 52 starts to operate. That is, the amplifying device52 starts to operate when a linearity of the amplifying device 42 startsto be rapidly deteriorated, so that an output signal of the amplifyingdevice 52 is applied to the load to drive it together with theamplifying device 42. At this time, although a load line of the outputmatching circuit 43 moves from a high resistance to a low resistance aswill be described later, the efficiency of the amplifying device 42 ishigh because the amplifying device 42 is in its saturation region.

When an input level from the input terminal 1 to the amplifier furtherincreases, the amplifying device 52 also starts to be saturated.However, the efficiency of the amplifier remains to be high even at thistime, because both the amplifying devices 42 and 52 are saturated.

FIG. 2 illustrates theoretically predicted values of a collectorefficiency or drain efficiency of the Doherty amplifier shown in FIG. 1.The collector efficiency is defined as a radio frequency output poweroutputted by a collector of an amplifying transistor divided by aproduct of a DC voltage applied from a power supply to the collector anda DC current supplied from the power supply. Likewise, the drainefficiency is defined as a radio frequency output power outputted by adrain of an amplifying transistor divided by a product of a DC voltageapplied from a power supply to the drain and a DC current supplied fromthe power supply.

The horizontal axis of the FIG. 2 represents an amplifier back-off,i.e., a dB ratio between a compression point and an input level of theamplifier when the compression point is set to be 0 dB, wherein thecompression point is defined as a minimum input level for both theamplifying devices 42 and 52 to be saturated.

In FIG. 2, a dashed line represents the efficiency of a conventionalclass-B amplifier and a solid line represents the efficiency of aDoherty amplifier shown in FIG. 1.

When the input level of the amplifier is within a range A, the carrieramplifying circuit basically operates alone. When the amplifier back-offreaches about 6 dB, the carrier amplifying circuit 4 starts to besaturated and the efficiency of the Doherty amplifier reaches about amaximum efficiency of the conventional class-B amplifier. At this time,an output power of the carrier amplifying circuit 4 is about Po/4,wherein Po is a maximum output power of the Doherty amplifier.

In a range B where the amplifier back-off is between 0 dB and 6 dB, asthe input level of the Doherty amplifier increases, the output power ofthe carrier amplifying circuit 4 increases from about 0.25 Po to about0.5 Po and an output power of the peak amplifying circuit 5 increasesfrom 0 to 0.5 Po. Further, in the range B, the sum of the output powerof the carrier amplifying circuit 4 and that of the peak amplifyingcircuit 5 is proportional to the input power of the Doherty amplifierwith a same proportional constant as that of the range A. When the peakamplifying circuit 5 starts to operate, the efficiency of the Dohertyamplifier decreases temporarily a little bit. However, the efficiency ofthe Doherty amplifier starts to increase again, so that it reaches itspeak at the compression point where the peak amplifying circuit 5 startsto be saturated. At the compression point, the output power of thecarrier amplifying circuit 4 is substantially equal to that of the peakamplifying circuit 5.

In general, CDMA signals and multi-carrier signals have a high peakfactor, i.e., a ratio between the peak power and the average power.However, a conventional amplifier has an operating point below thecompression point in order to correspond to a peak factor ranging from 7dB to 12 dB.

In the following, components in the Doherty amplifier and theirimpedance will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Since theimpedance of the output load Zo is a constant, it is set to be areference value. If we let the input impedance of the λ/4 transformer 7seen from the node 62 be defined as Z₇ and the characteristic impedanceof the λ/4 transformer 7 be defined as Z₂, the following equation isestablished:

$\begin{matrix}{Z_{7} = \frac{Z_{2}^{2}}{Z_{O}}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 1}\end{matrix}$

Thus, Z₄, which is the input impedance of the λ/4 transformer 61 seenfrom the output matching circuit 43, can be obtained as follows. In therange A, since the output impedance of the output matching circuit 53 ispractically infinite, Z₄ and Z₅ can be obtained by following equations:

$\begin{matrix}{{Z_{4} = {\frac{Z_{1}^{2}}{Z_{7}} = {\frac{Z_{1}^{2}}{( {Z_{2}^{2}/Z_{O}} )} = {Z_{O}\frac{Z_{1}^{2}}{Z_{2}^{2}}\mspace{14mu} ( {{in}\mspace{14mu} {range}\mspace{14mu} A} )}}}}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 2} \\{{Z_{5} = {\infty \mspace{14mu} ( {{in}\mspace{14mu} {range}\mspace{14mu} A} )}}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 3}\end{matrix}$

wherein Z₁ is the characteristic impedance of the λ/4 transformer 61.

However, in a range C where the input level is higher than thecompression point, Z₇ can be regarded as a parallel pair of the outputimpedance of the λ/4 transformer 61 seen from the node 62 and the outputimpedance of the output matching circuit 53, wherein said outputimpedances are equal. Therefore, in the range C, Z₄ and Z₅ can beobtained as:

$\begin{matrix}{Z_{4} = {\frac{Z_{1}^{2}}{2\; Z_{7}} = {\frac{1}{2}Z_{O}\frac{Z_{1}^{2}}{Z_{2}^{2}}\mspace{14mu} ( {{in}\mspace{14mu} {range}\mspace{14mu} C} )}}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 4} \\{Z_{5} = {2\; Z_{7}\mspace{14mu} ( {{in}\mspace{14mu} {range}\mspace{14mu} C} )}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 5}\end{matrix}$

In the range B, Z₄ and Z₅ vary within the limits of those in the rangesA and C.

The above result can be interpreted as follows. When the Dohertyamplifier is applied in a high frequency operation, the value of Z₄ fora case when the input level is relatively high, i.e., in the range C, ishalf as large as that of Z₄ for a case when the input level isrelatively low, i.e., in the range A. For example, if Z₇=25Ω and Z₁=50Ω,Z₄ varies in the range of 100˜50Ω. Thus, the impedance of the amplifyingdevice 42 also varies pursuant thereto.

Besides the conventional Doherty amplifier described above, there isknown a modified Doherty amplifier capable of compensating thedeterioration of its characteristics by controlling a gate bias voltagebased on a drain current (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-openApplication No. 2004-260232).

Further, there is also known a modified Doherty amplifier in which allamplifying circuits are configured in two or more stages (for example,see Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 2004-173231).

Still further, there is also known a modified Doherty amplifier in whichall harmonic components are combined to be cancelled out (for example,see Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. H6-82998).

However, when the conventional Doherty amplifier is applied in a highfrequency operation by using a semiconductor amplifying device, theimpedance seen from the amplifying device 42 cannot be easily adjustedto make it agree with the value obtained based on Doherty theory becausethe load line seen from the amplifying device 42 varies in accordancewith the behavior of the output matching circuit 43.

FIG. 3 is a Smith chart representing an exemplary variation of the loadimpedance. Z_(A), Z_(B) and Z_(C) are load impedances of the amplifyingdevice 42. These impedances are between 2Ω and 20Ω or less, noticeablysmall compared to Z₄, and not purely resistive. This Smith chart isnormalized by a resistance arbitrarily chosen between Z_(A) and Z₄.Three closed curves including Z_(A) in their central portion areconstant output power curves respectively representing 0.9 P, 0.5 P and0.25 P, which show that the output power decreases as impedance matchingbecomes inaccurate. As shown therein, the maximum output power P can beobtained when the load impedance of the amplifying device 42 is Z_(A).

Further, four dotted curves crossing the constant output power curvesare constant efficiency curves respectively representing efficiencies a,b, c, and d, that decrease in this order.

The output matching circuit 43 transforms the load impedance of theamplifying device 42 into Z₄, i.e., the input impedance of the λ/4transformer 61. The output matching circuit 43, if configured as alumped element circuit, transforms an impedance pursuant to a constantresistance circle or constant conductance circle on the Smith chart.Although FIG. 3 depicts only two dashed curves as exemplary impedancetransformation paths for simplicity, the actual paths of impedancetransformation can be varied arbitrarily.

Since Z₄ decreases from ZoZ₁ ²/Z₂ ², i.e., Z₄(A), to ZoZ₁ ²/2Z₂ ², i.e.,Z₄(C), as the input level increases, if Z₄(C) is matched to Z_(A) forobtaining the maximum output power in the range C, Z₄(A) is matched toZ_(B). However, -considering that any impedance will result in an outputpower of 0.25 Po as long as the impedance varies on the constant outputpower curve corresponding to 0.25 Po, it is to be noticed that the caseof matching to Z_(C) is superior in efficiency to the case of matchingto Z_(B). That is, the amplifying device 42 operates most efficientlywhen the load impedance of the amplifying device 42 is transformed fromZ_(C) into Z_(A) as the input level increases.

The above description is for the case where only output power andefficiency are taken into consideration. However, in general, aperformance of an amplifier is described not only by output power andefficiency but also by gain and distortion. Even considering suchimpedance matching that satisfies specified conditions on output power,efficiency, gain and distortion of a specified kind of the amplifyingdevice 42, there are some cases where it is more preferable that theload impedance of the amplifying device 42 varies outwardly thaninwardly with respect to the center of the Smith chart as the inputlevel increases. Further, there are also cases where it is preferablethat the impedance varies to Z_(A) from an arbitrary point having goodcharacteristics.

However, sometimes it is difficult for a conventional matching circuitto transform Z₄, which varies inwardly with reference to the center ofthe Smith chart, into an impedance which varies outwardly with referenceto the center of the Smith chart so that the two dashed curvesrepresenting the impedance transformation paths in FIG. 3 can cross eachother. Therefore, in the conventional Doherty amplifier, the outputmatching circuit 43 can only implement such impedance matching as theimpedance varies between Z_(B) and Z_(A), thereby imposing a limitationin enhancing the performance.

Further, in the conventional Doherty amplifier, when connecting pluralamplifiers serially to implement a high-gain common amplifier, thedividing loss in the divider 2 becomes high and the power efficiency orthe power added efficiency becomes low.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a conventional two-stage commonamplifier. A signal amplified by a preamplifier 20 is divided into twosignals by the divider 2 in a manner that the divided signals have asame efficiency, which means an occurrence of 3 dB loss. That is, sincethe input impedance varies pursuant to the input level in a complicatedway, it is not possible for all the electric powers of the dividedsignals to be used effectively.

At least, within the range A, all the electric power distributed to thepeak amplifying circuit 5 is dissipated. That is, most part of theelectric power distributed to the peak amplifying circuit 5 isreflected, and the reflected waves are usually dissipated in, e.g., anisolator (not shown), or, if the divider 2 is Wilkinson type, in a dummyresistor (not shown). Further, within the range B, the electric powerdistributed to the peak amplifying circuit 5 is partly reflected.However, since the output power of a class-B or class-C amplifyingcircuit increases gradually and the reflection power decreases, thesummation at the node 62 in FIG. 10 can be performed while the gain ofthe range A (that is, the linearity) is maintained.

Therefore, we need to take the above-mentioned loss about 3 dB, whichwill be referred to as “dividing loss,” into account.

FIG. 11 presents a graph depicting the normalized input power and theoutput powers of the carrier amplifier 4, the peak amplifier 5 and both.FIG. 11 also shows an assumed output power of the carrier amplifier 4 asa single body in case of the dividing loss being zero. As shown therein,the output power of the peak amplifying circuit 5 increases rapidly inthe vicinity of the amplifier back-off of 6 dB, so that, within therange B where the amplifier back-off is 6 dB or less, the carrieramplifying circuit 4 takes a share of the load together with the peakamplifying circuit 5. Further, we can see that, e.g., the gain isreduced significantly due to the dividing loss compared to a carrieramplifying circuit as a single body.

Hereinafter, it will be described how the power added efficiency of thecommon amplifier is calculated in case practical specifications of thepreamplifier 20 and the Doherty amplifier 10 are assumed. The amplifierback-off is set to be a standard value (7 dB to 10 dB) so that the inputpower of the peak amplifying circuit 5 is dissipated sue to thereflection, and the preamplifier 20 is chosen to be a conventionalclass-AB amplifier instead of being the Doherty amplifier.

The specification of the Doherty amplifier 10 is as follows:

output power; 20 W

gain; 9 dB (including the dividing loss)

collector efficiency; 35%

input power; 2.5 W

The specification of the preamplifier 20 is as follows:

output power; 2.5 W (less than 20 W by 9 dB)

input power; 0.156 W

gain; 12 dB

collector efficiency; 20%

Thus, we obtain the following results:

the power consumption of the Doherty amplifier is 20/0.35=57.1 W;

the power consumption of the preamplifier is 2.5/0.2=12.5 W; and

the power added efficiency of the common amplifier is(20−0.156)/(57.1+12.5)=27.5%.

As can be seen above, although the collector efficiency of the Dohertyamplifier is enhanced as high as 35%, the total power efficiency as thecommon amplifier is reduced to 27.5%.

Besides, though it is also possible to serially connect the Dohertyamplifiers, multi-stage amplifier configuration causes deterioration inthe performance because the Doherty amplifier includes the phaseconverter 3 and the Doherty combiner 6 and its characteristics varywidely with frequency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide amodified Doherty amplifier, wherein its performance is superior to thatof the conventional Doherty amplifier by implementing an appropriateimpedance matching.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a modifiedDoherty amplifier, wherein its gain is large and its power addedefficiency is at least substantially as high as that of the conventionalDoherty amplifier.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an amplifier for combining outputs of a plurality of amplifyingcircuits to generate an amplifier output, including a first amplifyingcircuit for operating a first amplifying device in class-AB, wherein thefirst amplifying circuit is one among the plurality of the amplifyingcircuits; a second amplifying circuit for operating a second amplifyingdevice in class-B or class-C, wherein the second amplifying circuit isone among the plurality of the amplifying circuits; and a summing nodeat which an output of the first amplifying circuit is combined with anoutput of the second amplifying circuit via a first impedancetransformer containing a transmission line of an electrical length otherthan λ/4.

Preferably, the second amplifying device is connected to the summingnode via an output matching circuit and a second impedance transformercontaining a transmission line.

Preferably, the amplifier further includes a divider for dividing aninput signal of the amplifying circuit into more than one dividedsignals; a first preamplifier for amplifying one of the divided signalsby operating in class-AB to send an amplified signal to the firstamplifying circuit; and a second preamplifier for amplifying another ofthe divided signals by operating in class-AB, class-B or class-C to sendan amplified signal to the second amplifying circuit.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an amplifier including a divider for dividing an input signalof the amplifying circuit into at least two divided signals; a firstpreamplifier for amplifying one of the divided signals and a secondpreamplifier for amplifying another of the divided signals; a carrieramplifying circuit for amplifying an output of the first preamplifier; apeak amplifying circuit for amplifying an output of the secondpreamplifier if the output of the second preamplifier is higher than athreshold level; and a Doherty combiner for combining an output of thecarrier amplifying circuit with an output of the peak amplifyingcircuit.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, thereis provided an amplifier including a divider for dividing an inputsignal of the amplifying circuit into two divided signals ofsubstantially same electric power; a first preamplifier for amplifyingone of the divided signals, wherein the first amplifier is biased inclass-AB; a second preamplifier for amplifying the other of the dividedsignals, wherein the second amplifier is biased in class-C; a carrieramplifying circuit for amplifying an output of the first preamplifier,wherein the carrier amplifying circuit is biased in class-AB; a peakamplifying circuit for amplifying an output of the second preamplifierif the output of the second preamplifier is equal to or higher than athreshold level, wherein the peak amplifying circuit is biased inclass-B or class-C; and a Doherty combiner for combining an output ofthe carrier amplifying circuit with an output of the peak amplifyingcircuit.

Preferably, the threshold level corresponds to a level lower than acompression point of the amplifier by 6 dB, an amount of a distortion ofthe first preamplifier is different from that of the secondpreamplifier, the peak amplifying circuit includes a semiconductordevice, the carrier amplifying circuit includes another semiconductordevice having a same configuration as that of the semiconductor devicein the peak amplifying circuit, the saturation output level of the peakamplifying circuit is substantially same as that of the carrieramplifying circuit, and the Doherty combiner implement impedancetransform by using a transmission line of a electrical length other thanλ/4.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, thereis provided an amplifier, including a divider for dividing an inputsignal of the amplifying circuit into n divided signals; a firstpreamplifier for amplifying one of the divided signals, wherein thefirst amplifier is biased in class-AB; a second to an nth preamplifierfor amplifying the other ones of the divided signals, wherein the secondto the nth amplifier are biased in class-C; a carrier amplifying circuitfor amplifying an output of the first preamplifier, wherein the carrieramplifying circuit is biased in class-AB; a second to nth peakamplifying circuit for amplifying outputs of the second to the nthpreamplifier if the outputs of the second to the nth preamplifier areequal to or higher than a threshold level, wherein the second to the nthpeak amplifying circuit are biased in class-B or class-C; and a Dohertycombiner for combining an output of the carrier amplifying circuit andoutputs of the second to the nth peak amplifying circuit with oneanother.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, thereis provided an amplifier including a divider for dividing an inputsignal of the amplifying circuit into two or more divided signals; oneor more first preamplifiers for amplifying one of the divided signals,wherein at least one of the first preamplifiers is biased in class-AB;one or more sets of cascaded second preamplifiers for amplifying theother divided signals, wherein every set of the cascaded secondpreamplifiers is configured such that a front-end one of the secondpreamplifiers is biased in class-C; a carrier amplifying circuit foramplifying an output of the first preamplifier; one or more peakamplifying circuits for amplifying outputs of said one or more sets ofthe cascaded second preamplifiers if the outputs of said one or moresets of the second preamplifiers are higher than a threshold level; anda Doherty combiner for combining an output of the carrier amplifyingcircuit with outputs of said one or more peak amplifying circuits.

Preferably, the first preamplifiers are serially connected and afront-end one of the first preamplifiers is biased in class-C.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and features of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments,given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a conventional Dohertyamplifier;

FIG. 2 illustrates theoretically predicted values of the collectorefficiency or drain efficiency of the Doherty amplifier shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a Smith chart representing an exemplary variation of the loadimpedance;

FIG. 4 describes a configuration diagram of an amplifier in accordancewith a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 presents a Smith chart describing impedance matching by using theoutput matching circuit 43 and the impedance transformer 64;

FIG. 6 shows a configuration diagram of an amplifier in accordance withthe first embodiment of the present invention in case the electricallength of the impedance transformer is zero;

FIG. 7 illustrates a configuration diagram of an amplifier in accordancewith a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 provides a configuration diagram of an amplifier in accordancewith a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 shows a configuration diagram of an amplifier in accordance witha fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a conventional two-stage commonamplifier;

FIG. 11 presents a graph depicting the output powers of the carrieramplifier 4, the peak amplifier 5 and both;

FIG. 12 describes a configuration diagram of a common amplifier inaccordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 13 depicts a configuration diagram of a common amplifier inaccordance with a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 4 describes a configuration diagram of an amplifier in accordancewith a first embodiment of the present invention. An amplifier shown inFIG. 4 differs from that shown in FIG. 1 in that the λ/4 transformer 61is replaced with an impedance transformer 64 configured with a piece ofa transmission line of an arbitrary electrical length and the phaseconverter 3 is replaced with a phase converter 31. Other configurationsof the amplifier shown in FIG. 4 are same as those of the amplifiershown in FIG. 1, except that specifications of some components may bedifferent.

An input signal is inputted to an input terminal 1. The inputted signalis divided by a divider 2, which is, e.g., a 3 dB coupler or a T-branchline formed on a wiring board. The phase converter 31 is, in principle,a piece of a transmission line that can generate a delay correspondingto that of the impedance transformer 64. The phase converter 31 makes aphase of an output signal of the impedance transformer 64 be equal tothat of an output matching circuit 53 when combining the output signalof the impedance transformer 64 with that of the output matching circuit53 at a node 62. Since phase differences caused by the impedancetransformer 64 as well as those caused by a carrier amplifying circuit 4and a peak amplifying circuit 5 have to be calculated, the delay of thephase converter 31 may differ from that of the impedance transformer 64.

The carrier amplifying circuit 4 includes an input matching circuit 41for implementing impedance matching to an input side of an amplifyingdevice 42; the amplifying device 42, which contains, e.g., one or moretransistors; and an output matching circuit 43 for implementingimpedance matching to an output side of the amplifying device 42. Theimpedance transformer 64 is connected to an output terminal of thecarrier amplifier 4 to transform an output impedance thereof. Theamplifying device 42 for amplifying signals is biased in class-AB.Within the range A, the output matching circuit 43, together with theimpedance transformer 64, transforms a load impedance of the amplifyingdevice 42 into an impedance on an approximately circular curve enclosingZ_(A) at its central portion. Within the range C, the output matchingcircuit 43, together with the impedance transformer 64, transforms theload impedance of the amplifying device 42 into Z_(A).

The other of the divided signals is inputted to the peak amplifyingcircuit 5 after its phase is delayed by the phase converter 31. Like thecarrier amplifying circuit 4, the peak amplifying circuit 5 includes aninput matching circuit 51; an amplifying device 52 containing, e.g., oneor more transistors; and an output matching circuit 53. The amplifyingdevice 52 is biased in class-B or class-C. Usually, the amplifyingdevices 42 and 52 are semiconductor devices such as LD-MOS (LateralDouble-diffused MOS), GaAs-FET, HEMT or HBT. Within the range A, theoutput matching circuit 53 transforms a load impedance of the amplifyingdevice 52 into Z₅. Within the range C, the output matching circuit 53transforms the load impedance of the amplifying device 52 into asubstantially infinite value. The input matching circuits 41 and 51 andthe output matching circuits 43 and 53 may be configured as lumpedconstant circuits, distributed constant circuits, or combinationsthereof. Further, the output matching circuits 43 and 53 may includestray capacitances or inductances.

An output signal of the impedance transformer 64 is combined with thatof the output matching circuit 53 at the summing node 62. The impedancetransformer 64 is a piece of a transmission line with an electricallength l of 0˜λ/2 or longer. In case the electrical length of theimpedance transformer 64 is zero, it is same as ideal conducting wire asshown in FIG. 6. Z₁, i.e., the characteristic impedance of the impedancetransformer 64, is equal to 2Z₇=2Z₂ ²/Zo.

The signal combined at the node 62 is inputted to a λ/4 transformer 7,which transforms Z₇, i.e., an input impedance of the λ/4 transformer 7seen from the node 62, into Z₀, i.e., an output load impedance. The λ/4transformer 7 may be configured as conductor patterns formed on a wiringboard of a width corresponding to a characteristic impedance Z₂ and alength corresponding to an electrical length λ/4. Although impedancematching can be implemented within a relatively wide frequency range byusing the λ/4 transformer, it is also possible to use other devices thanthe λ/4 transformer as long as impedance matching can be implemented.

FIG. 5 presents a Smith chart describing impedance matching by using theoutput matching circuit 43 and the impedance transformer 64. The outputmatching circuit 43 is configured such that an output power thereof isPo (which is a maximum power of the carrier amplifier 4 as a singlebody) when a load impedance Z₉ of the output matching circuit 43 isequal to Z₁. That is, within the range C, the load impedance of theamplifying device 42 is matched to Z_(A), wherein the impedancetransformer 64 functions as a piece of a transmission line.

Within the range A, an output impedance of the output matching circuit53 is substantially infinite. Therefore, Z₉ is transformed into Z₇represented by a point a in case of l=0 or λ/2 and Z₁ ²/Z₇ representedby a point b in case of l=λ/4. Further, if l varies within the rangebetween 0 and λ/2, Z₉ varies clockwise along a circle centered at Z₁.

An impedance represented by the circle centered at Z₁ is mapped on anapproximately circular curve enclosing Z_(A) at its central portion bythe output matching circuit 43. Points a, b and c correspondrespectively to points a′, b′ and c′, which means that the impedance canbe transformed into a′, b′ and c′ by varying l. Therefore, it ispreferable to set l such that c′ is the point where the performance ofthe carrier amplifying circuit or the amplifier is the most preferable.The optimal value of l is determined by, e.g., trial and error. Thetrial may be performed to observe the performance of the carrieramplifying circuit as a single body. However, it is more preferable thatthe trial is performed to observe the performance of the wholeamplifier.

In accordance with the embodiment 1, the impedance matching can beimplemented by only varying l even when the optimal point varies alongthe approximately circular curve enclosing Z_(A) at its central portion,regardless of the type of the amplifying device and so forth.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration diagram of an amplifier in accordance withthe first embodiment of the present invention in case the electricallength l of the impedance transformer is zero. The configuration shownin FIG. 6 can be used when it is preferable to have the loss in theimpedance transformer 64 to be zero, depending on the conditions of thedevices.

Further, although the electrical length l is 0 to λ/2 in the abovedescription, l can be longer than λ/2. In addition, Z₁ does not have tobe exactly equal to 2Z₇ and sometimes may slightly differ therefrom.

Embodiment 2

FIG. 7 illustrates a configuration diagram of an amplifier in accordancewith a second embodiment of the present invention. The amplifier shownin FIG. 7 differs from that shown in FIG. 4 in that an impedancetransformer 65 is connected between an output matching circuit 53 and anode 62 and the phase converter 31 is replaced with a phase converter33. Other configurations of the amplifier shown in FIG. 7 are same asthose of the amplifier shown in FIG. 4, except that specifications ofsome components may be different.

The impedance transformer 65 transforms an output impedance Z₂₀ of anoutput matching circuit 53 into a larger value Z₂₁ when an amplifyingdevice 52 does not operate as an input level thereof is low, therebysuppressing a signal flowing into a carrier amplifying circuit 4. Theimpedance transformer 65 is, for example, of an arbitrary length of atransmission line same as an impedance transformer 64.

The phase converter 33 generates a phase delay corresponding to that ofthe impedance transformer 65. The phase converter 33 may be inserted inthe carrier amplifying circuit 4 in case phases of the amplifyingcircuit 4 differ greatly from those of a peak amplifying circuit 5. Thephase converter 33 adjusts the phase differences caused by the impedancetransformer 64, the carrier amplifying circuit 4 and the peak amplifyingcircuit 5.

In accordance with the first embodiment, the output impedance of theconventional output matching circuit 53 does not become sufficientlylarge when the input level is small, thereby causing a power loss in thecarrier amplifying circuit 4. However, in accordance with the secondembodiment, an output impedance of the peak amplifying circuit 5 seenfrom the node 62 can be made larger by adding the impedance transformer65, so that the power loss of the carrier amplifying circuit 4 can besuppressed.

Embodiment 3

FIG. 8 provides a configuration diagram of an amplifier in accordancewith a third embodiment of the present invention. The amplifier shown inFIG. 8 differs from that shown in FIG. 4 in that a plurality of carrieramplifying circuits or a plurality of peak amplifying circuits areprovided therein, the divider 2 is replaced with a divider 21, and theλ/4 transformer 7 is replaced with an impedance transformer 71. Otherconfigurations of the amplifier shown in FIG. 8 are same as those in theamplifier shown in FIG. 4, except that specifications of some componentsmay be different. This embodiment is preferable especially when twoamplifiers cannot provide a large enough output power needed.

The divider 21 divides a signal inputted to an input terminal 1 by n.4-1, 4-2, . . . 4-k (O<k<n) are k carrier amplifying circuitscorresponding to the carrier amplifying circuit 4 in FIG. 4. 5-1, 5-2, .. . 5-m are m peak amplifying circuits corresponding to the peakamplifying circuit 5 in FIG. 4. It is also possible for 4-1 to 4-k and5-1 to 5-m are connected to an impedance transformer 65 or a phaseconverter 33 same as that shown in FIG. 7. Although not shown in FIG. 8,phases of outputs of the carrier amplifying circuits 4-1 to 4-k and thepeak amplifying circuits 5-1 to 5-m are adjusted such that these outputscan be combined at a summing node with a same phase. The impedancetransformer 71 transforms an output impedance of the amplifier into Zo.The impedance transformer 71 is, for example, a λ/4 transformer.

In accordance with the third embodiment, the input signal is divided byn by the divider 21, k of which are amplified by class-AB amplifiersoperating within a range from a small signal input to a large signalinput, and m of which are amplified by class-B or class-C amplifiersoperating within a range of a large signal input. The peak amplifiersmay start operations at a same input level. However, it is also possiblethat the peak amplifiers have different bias levels and start theoperations one by one as the input level increases.

Embodiment 4

FIG. 9 shows a configuration diagram of an amplifier in accordance witha fourth embodiment of the present invention. The amplifier shown inFIG. 9 differs from that shown in FIG. 8 in that preamplifiers areserially connected to carrier amplifiers or peak amplifiers. Thisembodiment can improve the power efficiency.

In general, amplifiers use a plurality of amplifying devices to obtain asufficiently high gain. For example, preamplifiers may be seriallyconnected to the amplifiers shown in FIGS. 4, 6 or 7. However, since theamplifiers shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7 include the divider 2, the electricpower transferred to the peak amplifying circuit is not effectively usedbut reflected in case of the amplifiers shown in FIGS. 4, 6 or 7 arewithin the range C where the peak amplifying circuit does not operate.That is, although a signal amplified by a preamplifier is inputted to aninput terminal 1, an input power thereof is partly dissipated by, atworst, 3 dB. The power added efficiency of the conventional Dohertyamplifiers is reduced due to this dividing loss.

In FIG. 9, 44-1 to 44-k and 54-1 to 54-m are preamplifiers, which arerespectively connected between the divider 21 and amplifying circuit 4-1to 4-k and 5-1 to 5-m. If necessary, these preamplifiers may have inputmatching circuits or output matching circuits. These preamplifiers mayhave a same configuration, or may be biased for different classes.Further, these preamplifiers may be connected in a multi-stage manner.It is also possible for a plurality of preamplifiers, e.g., 44-1 to 44-kto be united as a common preamplifier.

In accordance with the fourth embodiment, an input signal is divided bythe divider 21 while the input signal is at a small level, therebyreducing the dividing loss to improve the power efficiency of theamplifier. This is noticeable especially when the gain of, e.g., anamplifying device 42 is small.

The amplifiers in accordance with the first to fourth embodiment canenhance the performance compared to the conventional Doherty amplifierby properly adjusting impedance matching.

Embodiment 5

FIG. 12 describes a configuration diagram of a common amplifier inaccordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The commonamplifier shown in FIG. 12 differs from that shown in FIG. 10 in thattwo preamplifiers 91 and 92 are installed between the divider 2 and theamplifying circuits 4 and 5. In FIG. 12, components that have samereference numerals as FIG. 10 have same specifications as those in FIG.10.

10′ is a latter part of the conventional Doherty amplifier. Herein, thelatter part of the conventional Doherty amplifier has the sameconfiguration as that of the conventional Doherty amplifier, except thatthe divider 2 and the phase converter 3 are not included therein. Aninputted signal is divided by the divider 2, which is, e.g., a Wilkinsondivider formed on a wiring board. The phase converter 3 can generate atime delay or phase delay corresponding to those of the λ/4 transformer61. The phase converter 3 adjusts phase differences caused by theimpedance transformer 64, the carrier amplifying circuit 4 and the peakamplifying circuit 5. The phase converter 31 makes a phase of the outputsignal of the λ/4 transformer 61 be equal to that of the peak amplifyingcircuit 5 when combining the output signals of the λ/4 transformer 61with that of the peak amplifying circuit 5 at the node 62. Since timedifferences or phase differences may be caused by not only the λ/4transformer 61 but also the preamplifiers 91 and 92 and the amplifyingcircuits 4 and 5, the time delay or phase delay of the phase converter31 may differ from that of the λ/4 transformer 61. The phase converter 3may be configured such that the time delay or phase delay can beelectrically controlled.

The preamplifier 91 for receiving one of the divided signals to amplifythe received signal is biased in class-AB to maintain sufficientlinearity needed for input signals of the carrier amplifying circuit 4.The amplifier back-off of the preamplifier 91 is designed to be, e.g.,substantially same as or slightly greater than that of the carrieramplifying circuit 4.

The preamplifier 92 for receiving the other divided signal to amplifythe received signal is biased in class-C to maintain sufficientlinearity needed for input signals of the peak amplifying circuit 5.Therefore, the output signal of the preamplifier 91 may differ from thatof the preamplifier 92.

The carrier amplifying circuit 4 receives the output signal of thepreamplifier 91 to amplify the received signal, and the peak amplifyingcircuit 5 receives the output signal of the preamplifier 92 to amplifythe received signal. Usually, the amplifying devices used for thepreamplifiers 91 and 92 and the amplifying circuits 4 and 5 aresemiconductor devices such as LD-MOS (Lateral Double-diffused MOS),GaAs-FET, HEMT or HBT. The amplifying devices used for the carrieramplifying circuits 4 may have a substantially same specification asthat of the peak amplifying circuits 5.

The λ/4 transformer 61 contains a transmission line for implementingimpedance matching. Instead of the λ/4 transformer 61, an impedancetransformer made of a transmission line in a manner similar to that ofFIG. 4 may be used for implementing impedance matching, wherein thetransmission line has the electrical length l of 0˜λ/2 or longer and thecharacteristic impedance thereof is Z₁=2Z₂ ²/Zo.

Output signals of the λ/4 transformer 61 and the peak amplifying circuit5 are combined at the summing node 62. The signal combined at the node62 is inputted to the λ/4 transformer 7, which transforms Z₇, i.e., theinput impedance of the λ/4 transformer 7 seen from the node 62, into Z₀,i.e., the output load impedance. The λ/4 transformer 7 may be configuredas conductor patterns formed on a wiring board with a widthcorresponding to the characteristic impedance Z₂ and a lengthcorresponding to the electrical length λ/4. Although impedance matchingcan be implemented throughout a relatively wide frequency range by usingthe λ/4 transformer, it is also possible to use other devices than theλ/4 transformer as long as impedance matching can be implemented.

Hereinafter, the power added efficiency of the common amplifier shown inFIG. 12 will be estimated. The characteristics of each component thereinis assumed to be same as its corresponding component in FIG. 10, and theoutput level of the common amplifier is assumed to be a constant as longas the input level is a constant. The preamplifiers 91 and 92 areconfigured to be biased in class-AB and class-C, respectively. Theconfiguration of the preamplifiers 91 is same as that of thepreamplifier 92. The efficiency and the gain of the preamplifiers 91 and92 are same as the preamplifier 20 in FIG. 10 but the output level ofthe preamplifiers 91 and 92 is lower than that of the preamplifier 20.The input level and output level of the common amplifier shown in FIG. 3are set to be same as those of the common amplifier shown in FIG. 5.

The specification of the latter part of the Doherty amplifier 10′ is asfollows:

output power; 20 W

gain; 12 dB (increased by 3 dB due to the absence of the divider)

collector efficiency; 35%

The specification of the preamplifier 91 is as follows:

output power; 1.25 W

input power; 0.078 W

gain; 12 dB

collector efficiency; 20%

The preamplifier 92 does not perform an amplification at the back-off of7 to 10 dB. The impedance of the preamplifier 91 is properly matched tothat of the carrier amplifying circuit 4, so that the power losstherebetween is negligible. Remarkably, the electric power dissipated inthe peak amplifying circuit 5 when the amplifier is in the range Adecreases from 1.25 W to 0.078 W.

Thus, we obtain the following results:

the power consumption of the Doherty amplifier is 20/0.35=57.1 W;

the power consumption of the preamplifier is 1.25/0.2=6.25 W; and

the power added efficiency of the common amplifier is(20−0.156)/(57.1+6.25)=31.3%.

As can be seen above, the power efficiency of the common amplifier inaccordance with the fifth embodiment is increased by 2.8% compared tothat of the conventional common amplifier shown in FIG. 10.

The saturation output of the carrier amplifying circuit 4 may be eithersame as or different from that of the peak amplifying circuit 5.Further, although the common amplifier described above has a two-stageconfiguration, the common amplifier in accordance with this embodimentmay have n-stage (n>2) configuration so that the gain can be enhancedwhile maintaining the efficiency. In this case, as for the preamplifiersfor peak amplification, although all of them may be biased in class-C,it is also possible that only the one at the front end is biased inclass-C.

Besides, the common amplifier in accordance with this embodiment mayinclude a control circuit for controlling the gain or the phase of thepeak amplifying circuit 4 and the peak amplifying circuit 5 in order toproperly distribute the effect of the load impedance between the peakamplifying circuit 4 and the peak amplifying circuit 5 or optimize theperformance of the Doherty amplifier. In this case, it is morepreferable that the control circuit is installed in an earlier-stagedpreamplifier among a series of preamplifiers. In this way, theperformance of the Doherty amplifier can be enhanced while suppressingthe power loss in the control circuit. The control circuit mayelectrically control the gain or the phase using, e.g., a PIN diode or avariable capacitive diode.

FIG. 13 depicts a configuration diagram of a common amplifier inaccordance with a sixth embodiment of the present invention. The commonamplifier of sixth embodiment differs from that of the fifth embodimentin that it is configured such that outputs of three amplifying circuitsare combined to be outputted. In FIG. 13, components that have samereference numerals as FIG. 12 have same specifications as those in FIG.12.

A divider 21 divides an input signal into three divided signals. One ofthe divided signals is inputted to the preamplifier 91, another dividedsignal is inputted to the phase converter 3, and the other dividedsignal is inputted to another phase converter 34. The phase converter 3makes a phase of an output signal of the λ/4 transformer 61 be equal tothat of the peak amplifying circuit 5 when combining the output signalof the λ/4 transformer 61 with that of the peak amplifying circuit 5 ata node 63. The phase converter 34 makes a phase of an output signal ofthe impedance transformer 64 be equal to that of another peak amplifyingcircuit 55 when combining the output signal of the impedance transformer64 with that of the peak amplifying circuit 55 at a node 66.

The reference numerals 91, 92 and 93 represent preamplifiers. Thedivided signal inputted to the preamplifier 91, 92 and 93 arerespectively amplified by the amplifying circuit 4, 5 and 55. The outputsignal of the carrier amplifying circuit 4 is combined with the outputsignal of the peak amplifying circuit 5 via the λ/4 transformer 61 atthe node 63. Thereafter, this combined signal is combined with theoutput signal of the peak amplifier 55 via the impedance transformer 64at the node 66. The impedance transformer 71 transforms an outputimpedance of the amplifier into Z_(o).

Although not shown in the drawings, if we compare the sixth embodimentto an assumed configuration where a common amplifier including threeamplifying circuits has preamplifiers before an input signal is dividedto be inputted to a peak amplifying circuit or a driving circuit in amanner similar to FIG. 10, the absolute value of the dividing loss isreduced and the power added efficiency is enhanced by respectivelyinserting the preamplifiers 91 to 93 before the respective amplifyingcircuits 4, 5 and 55 as shown in FIG. 13. This result will be apparentto those skilled in the art with reference to the description of thesixth embodiment, although it is not described in detail.

The configuration of the peak amplifying circuit 55 is basically same asthat of the peak amplifying circuit 5, except that its operating pointis set such that it starts to operate at a higher input level than thepeak amplifying circuit 5. The impedance transformer 64 contains atransmission line, whose configuration is similar to that of the λ/4transformer 61. It is also possible to replace the λ/4 transformer 61 orthe impedance transformer 64 with other kind of devices as long asimpedance matching can be implemented.

Hereinafter, the operation of the common amplifier shown in FIG. 13 willbe described. When an input level thereof is not high enough to make thepeak amplifying circuit 55 operate, the output signal of carrieramplifying circuit 4 in the common amplifier shown in FIG. 13 issubstantially same as that in the common amplifier shown in FIG. 12, andthe output signal of peak amplifying circuit 5 in the common amplifiershown in FIG. 13 is substantially same as that in the common amplifiershown in FIG. 12. Therefore, in this case, the combined signal at thenode 63 in FIG. 13 is substantially same as the combined signal at thenode 62 in FIG. 12. Further, the load impedance of the peak amplifyingcircuit 55 is practically infinite. The impedance transformer 64transforms an output impedance seen from the node 63 to transfer itseffect to the node 66. Thus, when the preamplifier 92 and/or 93 does notoperate, the dividing loss is reduced.

When the input level is high enough to have the peak amplifying circuit55 saturated, an input impedance seen from the impedance transformer 64increases, so that the output impedance seen from the node 63 becomessuch that the supplied power can be transferred efficiently. Thus, theoutput power of the common amplifier is almost equally distributed tothe amplifying circuits 4, 5, and 55.

The behavior of the common amplifier of FIG. 13 at the input level tohave the peak amplifying circuit 55 start to operate can be easilyunderstood by handling the combination of the amplifying circuits 4 and5 in the common amplifier of FIG. 13 as if it were the carrieramplifying circuit 4 in the common amplifier of FIG. 12.

Although a Doherty combiner is constituted by the λ/4 transformer 61,the impedance transformer 64 and the node 63 and 66 in accordance withthe sixth embodiment, other configurations, e.g., a configurationincluding only a single node, can also be applied therein. Further, thenumber of the divided signals that are combined by the Doherty combinermay be greater than 3. In addition, it is also possible to combine aplurality of preamplifiers into a single one and let the divided signalsshare it. As described above, by respectively inserting thepreamplifiers 91 to 93 in front of the amplifying circuits 4, 5 and 55,the absolute value of the dividing loss is reduced when the peakamplifying circuits 5 and 55 does not operate so that the power addedefficiency is enhanced.

In accordance with the multi-stage amplifiers of the fifth and sixthembodiment, the power efficiency of the amplifier can be made close tothe collector efficiency of the Doherty amplifier by dividing the inputsignals when the input level is low to suppress the dividing loss.

The terms “class-A”, “class-AB”, “class-B” and “class-C” used in thisspecification should be construed to define only bias condition based onidle current and be compatible with operating classes based on aconfiguration of the output matching circuit such as “class-F”.

The present invention can be implemented by any means, any circuits orany apparatuses. A plurality of circuits can be used for implementing asingle function, and a plurality functions can be implemented by asingle circuit. Further, the functions or configurations in thepreferred embodiments of the present invention should not be construedto be essential in the present invention.

While the invention has been shown and described with respect to thepreferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes and modification may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the followingclaims.

1-3. (canceled)
 4. An amplifier comprising: a divider for dividing aninput signal of the amplifying circuit into at least two dividedsignals; a first preamplifier for amplifying one of the divided signalsand a second preamplifier for amplifying another of the divided signals;a carrier amplifying circuit for amplifying an output of the firstpreamplifier; a peak amplifying circuit for amplifying an output of thesecond preamplifier if the output of the second preamplifier is higherthan a threshold level; and a Doherty combiner for combining an outputof the carrier amplifying circuit with an output of the peak amplifyingcircuit. 5-9. (canceled)
 10. The amplifier of claim 4, wherein the firstand the second preamplifier includes at least one cascaded amplifier,respectively.